Getty Images Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes threw for nearly 400 yards during Kansas City's 33-27 win on Sunday.
Returning to the site of Super Bowl LIV, the Kansas City Chiefs locked up their five consecutive AFC West division title with a 33-27 win in Miami on Sunday. Despite 17 fourth-quarter points from the Dolphins and an uncharacteristic three-interception game from QB Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs improved their record to 12-1 on the season.
After the game, Mahomes answered questions from the media about his performance, more specifically his thoughts on the turnovers. The usually mild-mannered signal-caller admitted that throwing interceptions — especially more than one — upsets him.
Mahomes on shrugging off early turnovers: “You get angry, but at the same time you have confidence in the guys around…. Feels like this team gets better when we’re down.”
Coming into the day, the 25-year-old superstar had only been picked off two times on 463 attempts this season, to go along with 31 passing touchdowns. With his interception total now at five, Mahomes has matched his 2019 total while playing in only 14 games last year.
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When asked about the mentality he wants Mahomes to have after an interception, head coach Andy Reid explained, “I want him to keep firing. Just learn from it, and let’s go,” via Chiefs producer Matt McMullen.
Mahomes’ Love-Hate Relationship With Miami
Shortly after the final whistle, Mahomes took to Twitter to fire off a funny postgame anecdote.
I have a love/hate relationship with Hard Rock stadium! 😂😂😂
Back in February, the Super Bowl LIV MVP threw a pair of interceptions to a tough San Francisco 49ers defense, finishing the championship-winning game with just 286 yards on 42 attempts and a quarterback rating of 63.5.
On Sunday, Mahomes acknowledged his higher-than-average interception rate while playing at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, telling reporters that he feels like the majority of his picks have come in South Florida.
“On the love part, we won the Super Bowl here and we just clinched the AFC West,” Mahomes said during his postgame press conference, via KSNT News. “So it seems like every time we leave this stadium we have a hat for some type of thing we’ve accomplished. In the hate part, I feel like I have half my interceptions, it seems like, at this stadium. Obviously, a little bit of a joke. Whatever way we win football games I love it, but at the same time it’s just ironic that it had to be at this stadium.”
Mahomes Quickly Becoming King of Comebacks
Even with a couple of first-quarter blunders, the Chiefs’ All-Pro passer was able to lead his squad back from an early 10-point deficit, with Kansas City soon after scorching the Dolphins for 30 consecutive points.
As ESPN’s Field Yates noted, it was the eighth time Mahomes has pulled off such a comeback…since 2019 alone. Additionally, it was also the seventh time since 2010 that a team won after committing four turnovers with a turnover margin of minus-three, per USA Today’s Steven Ruiz.
Since the start of 2019, the Chiefs are now 8-1 (.888) with Patrick Mahomes at QB after falling behind by 10+ points.
The rest of the NFL is 68-356-1 (.160) combined when trailing by 10+ points during that same period.
In addition to the franchise’s record tenth straight road victory in Week 14, Mahomes has now also defeated all 15 AFC opponents to date — an extra special achievement considering Sunday’s start was only the 44th of his young career. He has played to a 36-8 in the regular season since entering the league back in 2017.
That’s it.
With the #Chiefs win over the #Dolphins today, 25-year-old @PatrickMahomes has now beaten all 15 AFC opponents.
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Chris Licata is an NFL contributor covering the Kansas City Chiefs from enemy territory in Denver, CO. Follow him on Twitter @Chris__Licata or join our Heavy on Chiefs Facebook community for the latest out of Chiefs Kingdom!